Finally updated! Enjoy!
-Lia
Primula POV
***
The arrival of the Seers was relieving but at the same time we couldn’t celebrate. So many things had happened on this journey. We battled a psychotic lycan who haunted us for weeks, fought amongst ourselves and lose one of our members to the shadows. So finally meeting the reason for our guests was not as satisfying as we would have liked it to be.
When the Seers arrived, Nereid went to talk with them as we all crowded around Zero trying to pry Krista’s body from him. He was finally quiet now but from the looks of it, he was in shock. Jebidiah and Arion managed to remove his mate’s body and Vates and I helped him up. He let us, not acknowledging anything or anyone.
We stood to the side along with Dean who was still silently crying for the loss. I watched the Seers apprehensively as they converse with Nereid gazing back at us constantly. After what seemed like hours, they finally reached our grieving group and took Krista’s body from Jebidiah. The instant Krista was in their hands, she vanished causing all of us to rush to them demanding what they did with her.
“Relax, she is somewhere safe.” A serene voice said in our heads making all of us, accept Zero jumped.
“They cannot speak verbally. So if you hear a foreign voice in your head, that’s them.” Nereid explained. The Seers scrutinized all of us, and when they stopped at Zero, their faces morph into pity and sadness. One of them, she was dress in soft white garment that seemed to flow endlessly, walked closer to us, offering a small smile. “We have been expecting all of you.” I forced a smile, but it came out as a frown and nodded. “Come,” she waved her hands in the direction they came from. “You must be tired.” Tired was an understatement, we were beyond exhausted. The heavy rain and stormed had finally ceased but our group was soaking wet down to our underwear and boots.
We followed the Seers through a narrow pathway leading through the forest. They glided along the ground, feet barely touching the floor while we stumbled behind them quietly. The ground was mushy and the wind that was blowing send chill down my spine. On the outside I felt cold, wet and gross out. On the inside I felt lost, hurt, empty, heartbroken miserable. I don’t know if I will ever be able to cheer up again. This journey had taken a lot out of me, physically and mentally.
“You okay?” I snapped my head up when I heard Arion’s voice whispered. He was observing me with a concern expression on his face. I lean into his side and he put his cold and dripping wet arm around me, guiding me through the path.
“I don’t know how much I can take,” I told him. He stopped, halting my movement and gazed into my eyes. I stared back at him as he searched my face – it looked like he wanted to say something but a throat clear and he snapped his head up. Jebidiah was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, his face blanked and jaw locked. I frowned at him, wondering what was with his pose.
He gazed from me to Arion who looked like he was about to say something but stopped when Jebidiah shook his head. He sighed, and his eyes soften as he gazed at his uncle and me. Finally after a long time, he looked up at the bleak sky and looked back at us. With a final nod, he turned around following the others.
“What was that?” I asked Arion, he shrugged and started walking away, his face blank. I knew something was bothering him, he was about to tell me something before. “Carry me,” I requested, grabbing the back of his shirt. He halted and turned back around, examining my face. After a while, he picked me up and hugged me to his chest. I hugged him tight, burying my face in his neck as he started walking back to the group.
“Tell me,” I spoke in his neck, my breath blowing against his skin; I felt him shivered, he must be cold as well.
“I can’t,” he sounded sad and resigned. I tighten my arms around his neck, letting him know I needed more explanation.
“I don’t have the right. Anyway it was nothing, so forget it.” He pleaded with me, his voice begging me to drop the subject. I consented and hugged him tighter as we fell into silence. I closed my eyes enjoying the warmth coming from Arion’s skin despite what a cold day it was. We continued to walk for a while until my eyes started to close in exhaustion.
I felt someone gently shaking me awake and I opened my eyes gazing around. We were in a bright cave in the rock; it was spatial and beautiful with fluffy glowing balls hanging up as light sources. Chairs and tables made out of rich red wood with some cotton pillows as cushioned decorated the place. The only people in the room gazing around gloomily was our group, the Seers were nowhere to be found.
Arion gently stood me on my feet when he saw I was awake. The instant I was on the ground, Jebidiah pulled on my right arm and brought me against his chest. I saw Arion’s eyes hardened a bit before softening. He looked up at Jebidiah who was now standing behind me, his arms wrapped around me tightly. I frowned, okay, this was different. I attempted to step away from his arms for lots of reasons when my gaze snapped up at the soft footsteps coming towards us.
“I hope the gods and goddesses guided you on your journey,” an older woman with silver white hair and brown eyes smile at us, speaking into our heads. She was wearing the same white material the three young Seers wore with a glow about her. We gazed at the woman like she was crazy. One of us just died and she was hoping the gods guided us on our journey? The ‘me’ before would have snapped at her, but I didn’t have the strength to comment.
“My name is Naati,” we nodded at her, not giving out our names. The woman waited, starting at all of us probably thinking we were going to introduce ourselves, but the heavy load weighing down on all of us was just too much. Finally Nereid came closer and introduced everyone, which seem to satisfy Naati.
“We have warm clothes for you to change out of.” The instance she said that another Seer walked in with some of the white material they were wearing. She distributed it to each of us. The fabric felt soft and warm to the touch, I couldn’t wait to wear it. I gladly moved out of Jebidiah’s arms wanting to wear the clothes now.
“The men, come with me, and Lita will show the girls were to change.” Naati spoke, indicating to the young seers who had brought the clothes. Nereid, Vates and I followed while my heart contorted with the knowledge that Krista would have been part of our group. I looked at the guys to see Arion pulling Zero while Dean was being dragged my Jebidiah. The seer led us into another room, identical to the one we were just in and smile, letting us know we could change now. Not caring about modesty at all – especially Nereid – we took of our wet and cold clothes and whipped with the towel Lita gave us. After I felt I was dry enough, I wore the pale soft and warm cloths, feeling instantly calm. All three of us were wearing a white long dress that molded to our frame perfectly. It was so beautiful, the most exquisite thing I have ever wore in my life.
Done changing, Lita led us back out of the room and we entered the first one to see the guys dressed in the same white material only theirs was pants and long sleeve shirt. I walked closer to Jebidiah and Arion who were talking quietly but snapped their heads up when they heard me coming. Both their eyes got huge, gazing at me in wonder. Feeling shy, I bowed my head down becoming annoyed when they chuckled at my predicament. Damn annoying uncle and nephew, I thought to myself.
Arion walked up to me, lifting my face with his two fingers. He smiled when I looked in his mismatched eyes but stepped back when a soft growl sounded from Jebidiah. I frowned in his direction, from the looks of it, he didn’t think I heard. I decided to let it be and walk away from them, to Zero who was sitting and staring of into nothing.
I touched his pink wet hair, the humor completely missing now. He finally lifted his gazed at my touch and we lock eyes for a while. I walked into him, hugging his neck him, he stiffened but hugged me back tightly, almost choking me to death, but I didn’t complain. He was finally responding so I didn’t want to ruin the moment.
“You all went through a lot and I know you have questions that need to be answer. Follow me; the Oracle has been waiting for you.” I heard Vates gasped at what Naati said mumbling about how she can’t believe she was going to see the oracle in her lifetime. I frowned, who was that?
I shook my head dismissing the thought and detaching myself from Zero. “Where is my mate?” Zero asked.
“Come and see,” We followed behind Naati as she led us through a long and warm glowing tunnel with the same light glob decorating the place. The entire place was enchanting and godlike. She stopped at a small room, opening the door. I gasped when I saw the inside. The place was decorated stunningly with beautiful small glowing things flying around the room. In the middle was a small white table probably made out of the light source the seers seemed to like so much. On the table was Krista, dressed in a gorgeous flowing gown, the light illuminating her skin making a ring of halo to surround her. She was so beautiful and if I had not seen her death right before my eyes, I would think she was merely sleeping.
Zero walked up to her, stroking her smooth and still face as his shoulder shook. I looked away from the scene not wanting to start the water works. My heart tug painfully when I turned around to see Dean shaking, hands over his mouth as tears glistened in his eyes. Shocking myself and him, I removed his hands from his mouth and walked into his arms. He held me tight and buried his face in my hair as he hiccupped silently. I felt so bad for him; this was his lost as well. Krista was his big sister and he originally came on this quest to protect her and he failed at that. I knew exactly what he was feeling.
After his tears were gone, he drew back and whipped his face, using his hands to clean mine too. My eyes widen in surprise – I didn’t realize I had been crying.
“Alright, take us to the Oracle or whatever,” Zero broke the quiet, his voice sounding hard and impatient.
“You can stay with –”
“No, I’m coming.” Zero snapped, cutting Vates off, “plus, Krista would have liked to hear what this Oracle has to say.” His tone of his voice left no room for argument. We all turned around, leaving Krista’s body behind and following Naati. She navigated us through another tunnel to a room with shoes pile at the door.
“Take of your shoes,” Naati commanded us. We frowned at how demanding her voice sounded. “This room is sacred.” We quickly discarded our shoes and entered the ‘sacred’ room. The place was big, and wide with the same glowing light everywhere – from the ceiling, to the ground. On closer inspection I realized that the light formed a circle and in the middle was a group of seers sitting around a little girl. Her hair was branded with clear glowing flowers carefully ornamented on her two long and thick braids. She looked young, no older than nine years old with cherubic cheeks and beautiful blue eyes.
The seers around her looked up at us and beam softly standing and walking to each of us. They sat us down in front of the little girl and got up, lighting sweet smelling candles instantly causing everyone to relax. Sitting between Arion and Jebidiah, I gazed at the little girl, wondering who or what she was. Was this the Oracle? I turned to asked Vates but judging from the worshiped look on her face as her eyes bore into the little girl, I’m guessing she was the Oracle.
“Let us begin,” I gasped at the intelligent but sweet and warm sound of the little girl’s voice. What shocked me the most was hearing her speaking out loud.
“I am the Oracle. The gods give me voice to speak because I am their chosen one.” She elaborated when she saw our surprised expression. “What are your questions?”
I gazed around the room at the others wondering what we should ask first. Now that we were here I had no idea what to say. So much has happened and I felt overwhelm. I frowned when I saw our group staring at me like ‘go on, ask away.’
Glaring at them, I turned back to the Oracle – she was waiting patiently – I attempted to speak but Zero beat me to it. “What is the shadow?” He asked her. That wasn’t what I was going to ask but I guess we could know more about them.
“Don’t ask questions to which you already know the answer. It will only cause delay.” She was blunt in her reply. I guess she was the type of person that loved getting to the point.
“What are they after?” Arion took over for Zero since he looked like he was going to protest. Before the Oracle could answer, I interrupted her, already knowing the answer. “Purgatory,” I said and watched as everyone stared at me in bewilderment.
“You knew all this time what they wanted and didn’t tell us?” Vates accused.
“I only heard it from my wolf twice, plus I don’t even know what it is.” I snapped at her. She was stilling staring at me like I was the bad guy.
“That would be Primrose. Hmm, strange, she’s not there.” The Oracle spoke, cutting the tense atmosphere Vates was unnecessarily creating.
“What is this place and why would Primrose be there?” I asked very confuse. I remember all the times I met her in a dream, my wolf never once told me where she was.
“Purgatory is like limbo and –”
“That is completely untrue,” the Oracle dismissed Vates explanation, cutting her off. “Everything you know, or have heard about purgatory is a lie. If your glass is full, than empty it because the information you are about to receive will change everything you knew about death.” Vates facial expression morphed into a look of shame. I felt bad for her, she only wanted to impress the Oracle.
With the exception of Vates, everyone sat up, ready to drink in the information the Oracle was about to give us.
“Purgatory,” she started, “is our final resting place until the circle of life begins again. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it is the belief that if you are good, your soul will go to heaven in death. And if you are evil, your soul is destined for hell.” She stopped and waited until our group nodded before continuing.
“This idea of heaven and hell is not accurate. What we know as heaven is just a place in purgatory for a good soul to briefly rest until it is ready for the core of purgatory. Similarly, hell is a place, also in purgatory a bad soul temporarily stops at in order to be punished for their sins. The time these two different souls spent either in heaven or hell is very short. It can range from hours to days although if the soul chooses, it can stay for as long as it wants. But eventually, each soul must rest in purgatory where it would be transformed and purified until it is ready for reincarnation.” She stopped, letting us soak in the information first.
I didn’t like the information one bit. So basically there was no such thing as heaven and hell? We all eventually end up in the same place and gets reborn again?
“What do you mean by reincarnation exactly?” Arion asked her, snapping me from my disturbed thoughts.
“When the gods created every one of us, they created limited amount of souls to populate the earth. So this amount of soul is constantly going through the process of life and death. In other words, everyone here has been reborn countless times but you don’t remember your previous life because it was designed this way. Purgatory is where a soul waits for certain number of years, sometimes thousands, to get reborn.”
“So what does the shadows want with purgatory?” Jebidiah asked.
“At first we thought it wanted the souls so it could gain the power to reunite with its other half.” I jumped at the voice in my head, turning to Naati. She was sitting on the side, listening to the Oracle’s explanation.
“It’s other half?” Zero joined the conversation.
“The night,” I answered for him. I remember the story my wolf told me about the beginning. “It was split in two. One half was breath into us, and the other part was given to Selene and Lune and became the night.” I explained further when they all gazed at me confusingly.
“So the shadows want more from purgatory than the souls?” I asked, turning away from Zero and to the Oracle.
“Yes. Message from the gods confirm that the shadows want a number of things. The first has already happened which means we have entered the apocalypse.” Our jaws dropped, eyes widened in shock when the Oracle said that.
“THE APOCALYPSE!?” We screamed, completely baffled. She waited as we attempted to gather our thoughts. But we couldn’t calm down – who could after hearing the world was practically ending!
“Tell them what the shadows want.” Naati told the Oracle respectfully.
“Alright, the first thing the shadows wanted and have already gained is access. They wanted access into purgatory. The shadows are dark and only pure things can enter purgatory so they had no way of entering.”
“How did they do it then?” Dean who had finally woken up from his depression asked the Oracle. My mind was already formulating how they manage to enter, and what I was thinking sounded far fetched.
“Primula?” The Oracle called to me, indicating I should tell the others my theory.
I nodded and told them, “through all those people who committed suicide when the shadows came upon them.” Everyone gasped, surprise at what I just reveal.
“Exactly,” the oracle spoke. “The shadows somehow left a mark on the souls of the people they touched. And for some reason when those people died, this mark started to corrupt purgatory, allowing the shadows easy access.”
“What’s the other thing?” Arion asked, sounding overwhelmed.
“The complete destruction of purgatory!” At her words I was notably confused. Why would they destroy it after going through all that trouble to gained passage? It didn’t make sense.
“Thank about it, purgatory is where a soul goes when they died. So if the place was no more, where would souls go?” She asked.
“Nowhere,” Vates answered.
“Exactly,” Naati spoke, making me jump again. She really needed to tell us when she was doing that. “Since a soul cannot go to its resting place, it will go nowhere. Instead the soul will become trapped inside its flesh. In order words no one will die. Everyone will be immortal.” My eyes widened and I finally realized what Primrose was trying to tell me at the entrance of the neutral zone. This was much more horrifying than I first thought. The shadows really hated supernatural people that much?
“I don’t understand, we will all be immortal. That’s not a bad thing, that way nobody ever has to lose a love one,” Dean spoke, frowning at our horrified faces. It seemed he was the only one not grasping the magnitude of the situation.
“No Dean, sadly it will not be as you predicted. I’m guessing this is probably the third thing the shadows want. Hell on Earth!” I told him, hoping he will understand what I was getting at. I sighed and decided to relieve him of his ignorance. The death of Krista and I’m also guessing his mother was probably clouding his judgment. “Dean, you are forgetting what the shadows are capable of doing.”
“I did not forget. They are able to extract their essences from people. And I also know that they can kill – ”
“And that’s your answer,” I cut him off not wanting to argue with him. It looks like he wanted to take his anger out on someone. “If the shadows were to extract their essences from everyone, people will become too nice again and will kill themselves for every little thing. Now do you see, imagine not being able to die while this goes on –”
“The world will become a zombie land.” His eyes popped out of its socket and his face transformed into the same horrified expression we were all sporting.
“So that’s what the shadows meant about wanting to see us survive in their new world?” Vates asked no one in particular.
We all sat in a dazed shaking at the terror of the shadows plan. God, they have already started. Is that why they wanted access to the neutral zone? To have more people who will die giving them quick access to purgatory? If they wanted this why not go after both supernatural and humans?
“Why did they leave the humans alone?” I asked, voicing my thoughts out.
“Because the process for them to get to purgatory is much slower than us,” the Oracle told me.
“So how do we stop them?” I frowned at Jebidiah’s question. I didn’t even think they could be stopped at all. I mean purgatory was corrupted now, so… I had no idea what comes after that. What happened to the souls that went there already? What happened to Krista’s soul?
At his questions, Naati and the other seers who were sitting quietly and listening to the conversation got up and started lighting candles around the Oracle. We observed them waiting for explanation. They didn’t give it, but they all sat around her, leaving an opening to where our group was sitting.
“We are going to do a summoned.” Naati spoke in our heads.
“What’s that?” I asked her.
“The Oracle true powers lie in her ability to be a medium for the gods. She is able to contain a small piece of the gods for a limited number of times. This was why we brought you here. Our mother Selene requested to speak with all of you.”
I furrowed my brows at her words. She sounded like it was no big deal. “What will happen to the Oracle?”
“It is of no importance,” Naati said, dismissing my concerns. Before I could protest all the seers joined hands and started rocking back and forth, humming a beautiful but terrifying melody. The room shook and the ground quaked as we all stared at them in fear. It felt like something big and powerful was coming down to crush us. The Oracle looked like she was suffering immensely as her face contorted in pain. I felt sorry for her, she was only a kid for crying out loud.
We stared at them in fear as the Oracle little body twist and turned unnaturally. Suddenly they all still and the little girl opened her mouth and stared up as glowing white light descended and enter through her mouth and eyes. Our eyes were huge at the sight before us. After what seem like forever, everything ceased and a creepy but calm silence fill the room.
The Oracle looked down, eyes still glowing brightly and smile at us warmly. I stared at her nervously and waited, holding my breath.
“My children, do not be afraid.” She spoke in a smooth and soft voice. Nobody said anything, we were too afraid of the tremendous power before us. “You can speak freely in my presence.”
Still no one spoke. I looked over at the seers to see them all frozen in place with a blank look on their faces. I guess they won’t be much of a help. I got the courage to speak but what came out of my mouth made me want to crawl into a hole. “I want to slap you for watching me suffer all those years.”
Everyone gasped and give me the ‘shut up’ look. The Oracle, or Selene the goddess chuckled, warming up the room. “Primula my child, you suffer so much but we have plans for you.” Great! Don’t note the sarcasm.
She looked at the seers and turned back to us becoming serious. “If I stay longer, I will obliterate the child. So listen carefully to the information.”
“Primula you are the only soul capable of stopping Tenebris. Ah, I believe you call it shadow. Only a damaged but intact and pure soul can cleanse it. It has been corrupted over the eons. We knew it would eventually come to this but we could not find the vessel. We were also faced the problem of finding a soul like yours. At first we did, but Dahaka chose a different path.”
“What?” I asked, it felt like information overload.
“I must be confusing you. Yes we once chose Dahaka, the only man/wolf to evolve and become a lycan. Of course he could not handle it and result to cannibalism. His damage but intact soul was supposed to be the only living thing capable of entering purgatory with the exception of the vessel of course.”
“Are you saying Dahaka was not just a mutation but another form of werewolf?” Arion asked very shock. Something started to registry in my mind, more specifically a conversation. I remembered my conversation with Primrose about the beginning. She told me about werewolf and also briefly mentioned lycanthrope. She seemed to think the two were the same. Why didn’t I notice this before?
“Yes but this is irrelevant at this point. Primula is the only living being capable of entering purgatory where she would leave with her soul still the same.”
“What is the vessel?” Vates found the courage to speak. I know I should be demanding her to explain all of this to me, but I was shell shock. My mind was completely blanked.
“The vessel is a container for the darkness inside Tenebris. If Primula succeeds in cleansing him, all the dark emotion will be extracted and stored inside the vessel. During Dahaka time we could not find the vessel. It is not from our space, time and universe. We went through great length to bring it here.”
“Where is it?” Zero asked her.
“It has been amongst you throughout your journey. In our world, the vessel will feel incomplete, hollow and alone.”
“What is it?” Jebidiah asked now intrigued but I already figure it out. Oh god no. I just wanted to cry thinking about it. The way she spoke about the ‘vessel’ like it was just a container to her. It dawn on me that the gods didn’t care about this vessel one bit. All they care about was that it would contain their darkness. He never catches a break! Hot tears roll down my cheek as a cold and terrified feeling soaked through my bones and to my core.
“This vessel is a person isn’t it?” I asked but I already knew without her saying it. I turned to him but he already figured it out. His face was blanked, preventing me from reading his emotions.
“Primula, why are you crying?” Jebidiah asked softly. I buried my face in his chest and cried hoping and praying that what she said was not true.
“The vessel is him, don’t you understand?” I choked as an uncontrollable sob rocked my body.
“Who?” Jebidiah whispered.
“Arion!”
***
Hope you all like it. Now I'm going to hit the sack!